A Dennis the Menace statue may soon have a new permanent home in Monterey, if the city can cut through administrative red tape.

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Monterey wants to put the statue at the Ketcham House, where writer and artist Hank Ketcham lived in Monterey.

Ketcham did some of the drawings for the Dennis the Menace cartoon at the house, which is now owned by the city of Monterey.

"Our thinking is if we put Dennis in front of that house, and even put a plaque and some information, it ties it all together very well," said Kim Bui-Burton, with the city of Monterey.

The city found itself with a second Dennis the Menace statue late last year, after the bronze artwork turned up at a Florida scrap yard and was mistaken for the original Dennis statue, stolen from Dennis the Menace Park in 2006.

The United States is home to several Dennis statues. One of the first was donated to the city in the 80s and placed at the park before being stolen. Another was given to a children's hospital in Orlando, Florida.

The hospital's statue ended up at the scrap yard, where employees shipped it off to Monterey under the impression it was the stolen Monterey Dennis. A replica has since been installed at the park, but the city wants to keep Florida Dennis.

But before the city can put Florida Dennis on display at the Ketcham House, there are some administrative hurdles to clear.

"We're just trying to confirm the ownership of who we request permission from, or who we even possibly purchase him from, so we are working on that," said Bui-Burton.

Bui-Burton said the hospital where Dennis was originally displayed has already said yes to Monterey, but the city may need to buy him off the Florida scrap yard.

"The next step would really be to bring it to the Colton Hall Museym and Cultural Arts Commission. They oversee the city's art collection," said Bui-Burton.

The Dennis statue from Florida will need some cleaning up after everything is finalized on the administrative end. Since being discarded by the hospital and ending up at a scrap yard, he is a little worse for wear.